Mutatis Mutandis
by Sylindara
Summary: Change can be good. Written for Team Battle on basketballpoetsociety Tumblr [Mutant AU]


Kind of based on X-men but also not really.

* * *

"It's a school for people like you," his dad had said. Kagami had been too afraid to look at him, to try to read the expression on his dad's face. What does it mean anyway, people like him? People who can jump into the air and stay there? Do they feel what he feels, that if it weren't for all these things weighing him down, if it wasn't for this ring around his neck chaining him to this world, he can just float up into the sky and never come back down again? Do the people at this school think about just flying out into space and throwing everything away? Is that 'people like him'?

He never asks. He doesn't want to know what his dad'll say in reply. It doesn't matter anyway. Kagami can't throw it all away and leave because then he'll have nothing left.

The bright and shiny plaque on the school entrance spells out in impressive looking letters 'Akashi's School for Gifted Children'. Even Kagami's heard of the Akashi family, especially the big fuss that was made after the fact that the young Akashi heir is a mutant comes to light. You have to admire someone who, receiving censure from all sides for supporting a mutant son and keeping him as your heir, goes and makes a whole school for mutants instead. Kagami wonders what he was thinking.

Waiting for him in front of the main gate is a middle-aged man in flashy sunglasses and two-day stubble. He smirks cheerfully at Kagami. "You must be Kagami Taiga. I'm Aida Kagetora, your guide for your first day."

"Nice to meetcha. You," Kagami stutters, tripping over the formalities of the Japanese language.

"No need for that." Aida waves a hand carelessly. "You're a returnee, right? People will understand." He strides off through the gates, waving at Kagami to follow. "Anyway, this school has eight dorms – having more than about ten mutant kids in one building isn't a good idea – and you've been put into Seirin dorm, which I'm in charge of. That's why I'm here."

Kagami keeps up with Aida's stride easily, looking around him in curiosity. The path from the gate to the main building is more like a driveway, wide enough to accommodate two cars driving side by side. Lining it on either side is a row of trees, branches reaching out over their heads and creating a tunnel of green around them that the sunlight barely filters through. "So there are nine other people in my dorm? Does that mean we get our own rooms then?"

"Ah, twelve I think," Aida corrects him. "There's been a bit of an influx; but don't worry, us teachers will be here to keep an eye on things. You will have to share though. That's school policy. Everyone pairs up for classes and your partner will be your roommate. This stuff will all be in the school prospectus; we'll give you everything you need when we get inside."

"Are all the teachers also…" Kagami trails off, keeping his eyes on the large building coming up.

"Yup." Aida's voice is casual, as if what he's saying doesn't matter. "Everyone here is a mutant."

There's a ruffle of wind by Kagami's side, and suddenly Aida is standing in front of the big doors up ahead, staring back at Kagami with a mischievous grin. As Kagami jogs up to him, Aida opens the doors in front of them with a flourish, revealing a big lobby on the other side. Two staircases wind up the back of the lobby; with the group of chandeliers hanging down from the ceiling, the whole thing looks like one of those ballrooms you see on TV.

Aida turns to the left, leisurely walking through the short corridor towards the door on the end. There is a small plate on the door that says 'Principal's Office'.

"The Principal isn't here right now," Aida says apologetically, "but your welcome bag is. You'll meet him sooner or later. Probably."

Kagami narrows his eyebrows at that, but follows Aida inside obediently and accepts the bag of books and materials that Aida hands over. The office itself looks completely normal, like any other teacher's office in any other school. Kagami wonders what the Principal's mutant power is.

"Next is Seirin dorm," Aida says, leading the way out of the main building. "The place we were just in is the school, where all the classroom lessons take place. This building on the left here is Seirin. Your luggage has been dropped off in your room already; it's the first day, so take the time to relax and get your stuff in order. You can ask your roommate later if you have any questions – he'll be in classes right now, but you'll know everything if you just read the pamphlets." With one last admonishment to memorise the curfew times, Aida leaves Kagami standing in front of the door to his room.

Seirin dorm is brand-new; none of the slightly worn and patched look that the other buildings had. Even the corridor Kagami is standing in and the door he is facing looks untouched. The nameplates that proclaim 'Kagami Taiga' and 'Kuroko Tetsuya' are so shiny Kagami can see his reflection in them.

Gulping nervously, Kagami turns the knob and enters what will be his home for the next few years. The room looks disappointingly normal, a large bunk bed on one side and two identical looking desks and chairs on the other. It's not a big room, but not too small – even for someone of Kagami's stature. There is a wide window facing the door where Kagami is standing. The desk beside the window has a row of books lined neatly on it and the bottom bunk is in slight disarray. That is the only sign that anyone else lives here.

Kagami climbs onto the top bunk, where his two bags – with all his earthly possessions – have been laid. He pushes them to the end with his new bag of things on top and flops down heavily. This is his life now. He wonders what this Kuroko is like.


End file.
